HENDERSON COUNTY–Commissioners’ Court of Henderson County voted Sept. 27 to approve an agreement with the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake (HSCCL) for animal shelter services that continues additional county funding.
County Judge Wade McKinney said the court has discussed over the past several months the Humane Society and the services that are rendered through the Athens and Tool animal shelters. Last year, he continued, the court approved additional funding for the Humane Society through the end of fiscal year 2021.
“There was a second step that we didn’t get to, which is to continue that funding through 2022 and that’s what we’re here today to discuss is that additional funding portion of it for the Cedar Creek Lake facility,” McKinney stated.
HSCCL Board President Lanette Ainsworth said HSCCL started receiving additional COVID-related emergency funding of $1,500 per month late last year for increased costs, in addition to its standard $20,000 per year from the county.
“We were under the impression that that would carry us through 2022,” Ainsworth said. “Realizing that later this year that all of those funds were depleted, that was allocated. So I got the call to say that we had not had the funds to pay the bills,” Ainsworth told the court, saying her organization then sent a formal request to restore the funding.
The contract before the court carries the Athens and Tool shelters through 2023 contractually and also covers through 2022, plus the previous three months at $3,166.67 per month, said McKinney. The court voted to approve the contract for animal shelter services for a term ending Dec. 2023 and to replace the payments for $3,166.67 for the remainder of 2022 and through 2023.
In other business, the court:
• Approved a resolution authorizing a county grant to Meals on Wheels Ministry Inc. for program year 2023.
• Approved a resolution to participate in The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS), a purchasing cooperative.
• Approved an interlocal agreement between Region 8 Education Service Center and Henderson County, which is the originating entity for TIPS.
• Approved a $47,500 contract with McKinstry using a TIPS cooperative purchasing agreement to perform an investment grade audit of utility use at the Henderson County Justice Center, to conserve water and electricity usage, which officials said were high.
• Approved payment to UT Health Athens per American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) federal funds for Henderson County COVID-19 Public Health Expenditure Agreement Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which formally approved the $1.4 million payment the court greenlighted earlier in September via the MOU.
• Approved accepting a $22,695 grant award for the fiscal year 2022 Bulletproof Vest Partnership funding.
• Approved a right-of-way permit for Leagueville Water Supply Corp. to bore under County Road 3615.
• Approved a replat in Cherokee Shores (Cedar Creek Cove) subdivision to combine two lots into one.
• Approved the payment of fiscal year 2022 bills in the amount of $351,902.16.